Just about every other gaijin blog I`ve looked at today has pointed out that on Valentine`s Day in Japan only women give gifts to men that they feel somehow obliged to acknowledge, rather than the loving mutual exchange of gifts we Western folk are used to. I'm sure you`re already well aware that such gifts are called "giri choco" or "duty chocolate", as you likely know that "honmei choco" is reserved for men that women have stronger feelings for. I also won`t go into the origins of how Valentine`s Day came to Japan in the 1950s or how the unique custom of women giving to men occured as a result of a translation error. I`d hate to bore you by explaning something that you already know, so I won`t write anything like that here. Nor will I bother telling you about how men have to return the favor in March on "White Day", a holiday invented in 1980 by chocolate manufacturing companies in order to exploit Japanese feelings of obligation. I'm sure you`ve all heard this stuff before and that would be just a huge waste of... oh wait I just... crap, never mind. Anyway, if you`ve ever wondered what Japanese people think of the practice of giving "giri choco" you can find out here and here.

For some more details on the history of Valentine`s Day in Japan check out this site. Happy Valentine`s Day to all of you back home, and I hope those of you over here had a good one. I got this awesome scary wooden mask and a box of cute poodle chocolate.